Neither dead nor resting -- the event is retired with wonderful memories, and the committee moving on! We are sorry for any disappointment resulting from the decision to terminate the Maine Mineral Symposium. We know it will come as a shock to our faithful supporters who have been attending for years. This decision was not made hastily by the Board of Directors, and I want to emphasize that there were no hard feelings within our group, or between the Board and anybody else.

We had a fantastic and most enjoyable run for 22 years, but the time has come for numerous personal and logistical reasons. We feel that it's best to make a clean break and go out at the top of our game. We hope that some other group of people or club(s) will be inspired to carry on with a similar educational event in New England, but the name "Maine Mineral Symposium" is still registered with the State as a non-profit corporation.

Many many thanks to all who supported us!

I encourage people who enjoyed the Maine symposium to attend the Rochester (NY) Mineralogical Symposium that's held in April. Rochester was our inspiration when Carl Francis initiated the first Maine Mineral Symposium, and it continues to be a dynamic gathering of mineral enthusiasts from all over the U. S. and Canada.

I've enjoyed the many years I was able to go to the MMS !As far as I was concerned, it was the best show in the North East !It would have been wonderfull if there was just one last, special, spectacular, SUPER FINAL SYMPOSIUM ! ! !Oh well..... Was great while it lasted

Thank You Woody , Van and all the others who over the years made the MMS the best show the "was" !

This notice was a complete surprise to me.The Maine Mineral Symposium has always been "The" event to catch up on the news of all the latest mining finds and activity from all over New England. The speakers were always presenting interesting and informative topics and locations. This event will certainly be missed by all the regular attendees and I certainly hope that a similar event can be organized in the near future. Thank you Woody Thompson and all the many people behind the scenes who have dedicated the many years of support and work to keep this yearly event going. The Maine Mineral Symposium will be missed by all New England mineral collectors.

Sorry to hear the end has come. Is it possible that a symposium could be done at a facility in conjunction with the Springfield Show? Dealers could set up there at a local motel. If my past experience with volunteering is any indication, I assume a dwindling number of dedicated people continued to do most of the work associated with setting up the symposium. This, sadly, is true with mineral club shows in general.

I understand. You can still salvage a part of it and have the dealers and speakers set up at a motel/hotel in Springfield if the Maine Symposium is not restarted. You could call it a New England symposium. Either way, I hope the show somehow continues. Maybe some of the hoarders who bring home tons of rock from Maine can truck them down to Springfield and let everyone field collect those rock piles. LOL.

Field trips could range over a wide radius from Springfield or wherever, such as north to the pegmatite quarries in SW New Hampshire, and perhaps even to basalt quarries in the Connecticut Valley or places in western Massachusetts?? Maybe some ideas could be had from the field trip model of the 3-day New England Intercollegiate Geological Conference (NEIGC) that's been held almost every year for over a century. NEIGC moves around constantly, so the work load is shared. Each year has one or more host colleges who take care of the guidebook and banquet, but the field trips range far and wide, with the more distant ones being on the first or last day (when you're getting there or headed home). I'm not suggesting that a mineral symposium can easily pick up and move every year, but maybe even such a radical proposition could be spearheaded by an organizing group thinking outside the box. Imagine going everywhere from Franklin, NJ to the Bay of Fundy or the mines of Quebec!

I'll be writing up this news tomorrow for Friday's Sun Journal, and looking for local reaction from people who have attended the symposium, whether to sell, show, make presentations, or just for the fun and educational experience. My work email is tkarkos@sunjournal.com. Phone is 207-364-8728 ext 4205. Likely won't be in until noonish to 2 p.m. though, so email works fine. Sad to see this wonderful gem of a program go

After 22 years of a job well done.....WELL DONE indeed....!! The MMS was absolutly outstanding in exciting,educating and futuring the knowledge of Maine minerals gems and our geology.

Thanks to Ray, Bob and Margaret, Woody and Louise, Van, Duane and Nancy, and so many others for their terrific contributions.

Thanks to the numerous speakers who helped enrich everyones experience.....it has contributed greatly to helping bridge the gap between the older members of the mineral collectors and the next generation.....who will help fill the ranks of this field.

Best regards to all of you who helped with the MMS, and for those who were "tired" from the rigors of MMS that you get restored and that you get on with working on your "bucket lists".

Who could question that the standard has been set by the MMS, and should serve as a model for anyonebrave enough to endure the trauma of such an undertaking. I suppose in the course of anything, the baton musteventually be passed, and I must say, that the baton has come with such a lead, that the persons, named and unnamed in this discussion can not be praised enough. I must say that, perhaps, some of the events that led to the passing of the baton,are rife everywhere within this hobby, and need to be addressed. What more can be said??

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